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I find it odd that the data was mutually exclusive. They didn't find a single CEO with both an MBA and engineering degree?
I think they cast anyone with a MBA into the MBA category. I know of one CEO who has both an engineer degree and MBA. The CEO of Adobe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantanu_Narayen
A better first question is, "What % of advanced degree engineers become founders?" and "What % of MBAs become founders?"
From there you can go on to questions of size and success.
As listed, the answer tells us nothing. For all we know there are 30x as many engineers as MBAs. Or vice versa. The conclusion could be the same as stated too.
This is definitely food for thought. However, I'm not sure it tells the whole story. I'm interested in the size/valuation of the companies in addition to a count. I'd argue that it's a lot easier to found a tech startup and call yourself founder/CEO than it is with more traditional MBA-geared companies. Also, the survey sample is probably pretty skewed since it uses Identified and Facebook.
Nevertheless, it is largely a reflection of reality. A study from Harvard Business School was recently released that came to the same conclusion.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020336350457718...
*Looking for correct link, please stand by
EDIT: Linked to the wrong HBS study xD, corrected
Their data doesn't support that conclusion. Actually, you can't make any conclusion without knowing total number of MSinE vs MBAs. Update: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_ED2008.pdf (p.16) suggests there are a lot more business masters vs engineers masters (23.4% vs 7%). So at a first glance it does look like the conclusion is right.
Their data doesn't support that conclusion. Actually, you can't make any conclusion without knowing total number of MSinE vs MBAs. Update: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_ED2008.pdf (p.16) suggests there are a lot more business masters vs engineers masters (23.4% vs 7%). So at a first glance it does look like the conclusion is right.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hi refurb, I compiled the statistics behind the white paper. We found several candidates with both MBAs and engineering degrees. However it was on the order of low tens so the sets are largely disjoint. We excluded it for the sake of clarity. Sorry if it wasn't clear.
When you say, "I compiled the statistics behind the white paper" I'm assuming you were involved in the paper when I ask this, so please excuse me if you were not: Did you look at whether the companies had any employees or not? Or try to split the data out by whether they were lifestyle businesses or not?
We did not examine company size as we did not have that data on hand. We filtered the data based on known companies to the best of our abilities but that is an area we could devote additional effort.
That being said, an HBS study appears to confirm our conclusions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020336350457718...
I'm not sure they're doing good stats... A better first question is, "What % of advanced degree engineers become founders?" and "What % of MBAs become founders?" From there you can go on to questions of size and success. As listed, the answer tells us nothing. For all we know there are 30x as many engineers as MBAs. Or vice versa. The conclusion could be the same as stated too.
We simply examined CEOs at a certain time period and their degree composition.
Their data doesn't support that conclusion. Actually, you can't make any conclusion without knowing total number of MSinE vs MBAs. Update: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_ED2008.pdf (p.16) suggests there are a lot more business masters vs engineers masters (23.4% vs 7%). So at a first glance it does look like the conclusion is right.
I compiled the statistics for the white paper. As I noted below, the sets are largely disjoint. Those with both engineering degrees and MBAs are in the low tens.
Gentiles far more likely than Jews to win Nobel prize
If the numbers from that PDF are right your conclusion is actually 3x stronger - i.e. a Masters of Engineering is an order of magnitude more likely to lead to a CEO position than an MBA.
If wonder if that's really true, I find that level of difference odd. Wouldn't be surprised if numbers go the other way if look at only top schools. I.e. MBA is useful, but only MBA from a top-20 school, which is a generally accepted wisdom. I bet at the end it just correlates to IQ and maybe gender.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. MBA programs (traditionally, things are changing slowly) aren't really designed to create entrepreneurs, either.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Large companies need at least some specialist management types.
Also, good quantitative skills, and a good understanding of scaling and system behavior are important.